


Cabin Fever

by TheIceQueen



Category: Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Angst, Bathing/Washing, Boys In Love, Boys Kissing, Brotherly Love, Brothers, Caretaking, Confusion, Coughing, Crying, Cuddling & Snuggling, Cute, Doctors & Physicians, Eye Contact, Fear, Fever, Fluff, Humor, Jokes, Light Angst, Love, M/M, Needles, Nervousness, Nicknames, Nightmares, Panic Attacks, Pneumonia, Sickfic, Sleep, Spooning, Unconsciousness, Vacation, Worry, almost
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-21
Updated: 2018-05-11
Packaged: 2019-04-25 21:31:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 18,884
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14387526
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheIceQueen/pseuds/TheIceQueen
Summary: ”You know what to do. I have no idea, I’ll mess everything up.”“I get that you’re nervous, but you really can’t do anything wrong.”“But, shouldn’t you…?”“Hey, stop! You’ll get your ass in there now, or I’ll throw you in and lock the door!”-Conor and the, newly in love couple, Joe and Jack are to spend a week relaxing in a cabin, cut of from internet and phones. The only thing they hadn't planed for was getting sick.





	1. Day one - A little hot in here

“Take a left up here… I think.”

“You think?!” Conor was not satisfied with Joe’s sense of direction.

“It’s so much easier when you have internet to guide you.”

“It’s kinda hard to sleep with you two fighting that loud inhere.” Jack had been out, in the backseat for the last hour. His voice was still raw from sleep. “You sound like an old married couple.”

“Hey! I didn’t sign up for the whole damn family.” Joe protested and turned around to send Jack a smile. “Just you sweetheart.”

Conor shook his head and turned down the road Joe had told him to. Those two was something alright. He had thought about what it would be like to spend a week with a newly in love couple, and one of them his brother. But they were all friends so how bad could it be? Besides no one was happier for Jack and Joe than Conor. He’d known about their feelings for each other longer that they had themselves.

The huge oak trees, along the narrow gravel road, had just begun shedding their leaves, and the car made its way down a tunnel of dark red and warm orange.

“So, is it ringing any bells yet? Please tell me we’re not lost on this tiny island.”

There were only about three main roads on this island, all of which led back to the bridge. Joe’s uncle’s boss’s friend, or something like that, owned a cabin out here, and when Conor had talked about getting away for a while, everything just fell in order and suddenly they had the keys and an old road map. No internet, no phone service and no work. A whole week of nothing but sleeping in, cooking and watching TV sounded good to all of them.

“My dad showed me a picture, I’m sure it’s right around the corner.”

“I’ll believe it when I se the cabin. We haven’t seen anything but trees since before the bridge.” Conor was looking forward to getting out of this stuffy car. Air-condition could only do so much against three lads in their twenties for over four hours.

Jack coughed and sat up entirely and rubbed his eyes. He was starting to feel claustrophobic in the that backseat, the sore throat and slight headache didn’t help. Joe looked back again.

“You okay back there.”

“Sure, are we there yet? I think I need to get out of this tin box.”

“You show my car some respect, she’s a beauty and you know it.” Joe was proud of his car. He loved it. It was the first one he’d bought on his own, no brand deals, no leasing. A brand-new car, and exactly the one he wanted. But he too was feeling the need to stretch his legs.

* * *

The cabin was small, only one room with a door to the bathroom and one to the only bedroom, but the pull-out couch looked comfortable and big enough to easily fit two people. The kitchen was only a stove, a small fridge and a sink.

“Dibs on the couch.” Conor threw his back on the floor next to the big piece of furniture.

“So, you don’t want the bedroom?” Joe sent Conor a crooked smile. “We wouldn’t mind.”

“And having you out here disturbing the peace. I heard you two in the car. The more you bicker during the day, the… well, less you bicker at night, don’t think I haven’t noticed. You get the room with the door.”

Joe hauled his bag over his shoulder and walked towards the room, grinning to himself. “Rude.”

Joe and Conor had already unpacked the food and stocked the fridge when Jack came in.

“Where the hell were you? We thought you’d fallen asleep in the car again.” Conor handed both Joe and Jack a coke.

“I just needed some fresh air after…” He coughed a few times and steadied himself against the dining room table. “… after the ride.”

“You sure you’re okay? It’s a nasty cough.” Joe walked closer to Jack and put his coke down on the table.

“I’m sure. Its just a cough, it’ll get better with rest. That’s the whole point of this trip anyway, right?” Jack cleared his throat and took a sip of the soda. He was annoyed that this might ruin the trip, but it might just go away overnight. At least is wasn’t as serious as the look on his boyfriend’s face indicated. It was kinda nice having someone worry about him like that, but it _was_ just a cold.

Joe looked long and investigative at Jack but had to agree with him, besides from the cough and looking only slightly more tired than him and Conor, Joe saw nothing that would suggest that Jack wouldn’t be okay. He grabbed his boyfriend’s hand and picked up his coke.

“It’s late and we’ve been driving, for quite some time, so maybe we should just eat the rest of the road-food and turn in.” Joe had bought double of everything when they stopped for sandwiches earlier, so they would have for dinner. He knew that none of them wanted to cook when they’d arrive.

“Correction.” Conor started to unpack the food. “ _I’ve_ been driving, you two have been sitting, and I noticed there’s a huge tub in the bathroom, so that’s mine after we eat.”

“Jack. You need to get a handle on your brother, or this week is going to be extremely long.” Joe pulled a chair out for Jack and sat down on the next.

“Yeah, like that’s ever gonna happen.” Jack hid a small cough in his arm as he sat down. “I’ve been trying since I was born, you know?”

All thee of them smiled before they started eating. It was silent for a while, they were all tired and hungry and they would have time enough to talk the next six days.

* * *

Jack had turned in early. Even after the nap in the car he was more tired than the others. Conor had been serious about that bath and had left Joe to clean away the trash after they’d eaten. He could hear Jack coughing in the room and wasn’t sure if he was overthinking it, but he felt a bit sore himself when he swallowed, so he decided that tea would be in order.

“Hey, love.” Joe was sure Jack wasn’t sleeping but he entered the room carefully nonetheless. “Brought you a cup of tea if you want some.”

Jack was in bed, half upright leaning against the headboard. He pushed himself up as his boyfriend came over to sit on the side of the bed. He coughed at few times and then gladly took the tea.

“Thanks. Hey, don’t look so worried. It’s only a cough.”

“I’m not worried. I just want you to have a great time off, and not be sick.”

“I’ll probably feel better tomorrow. If not. It might be good to be here.  You know fresh air and stuff.”

Joe shook his head and smiled. He lifted Jack’s chin with his free hand and placed a soft kiss on his warm lips.

“Finding the silver lining. Nice.”

“Yeah, but we probably shouldn’t kiss. You might catch it too.”

Joe pouted excessively, and Jack laughed with sent him into a coughing fit, so Joe had to rescue the tea before it spilled on the bed and floor. Joe moved closer and rubbed his hand on Jack’s back.

“Are you good?”

Jack nodded still coughing. Eventually he stopped and took a few deep breaths and managed to sit up straight again. He was sure it was just a cold, but it was getting harder to breathe, his lungs felt tired. Then again, he was really tired, and maybe a sore throat on top of that would make a person feel that way. “Maybe we should just drink the tea now.”

They drank in silence, looking at each other with laughter in their eyes as they listened to Conor singing in the bathroom.

“Wanna sleep?” Joe placed his mug on the nightstand and took Jack’s too.

Jack nodded, laid down and scooted over, lifted the comforter and invited Joe to lie next to him. Joe got undressed and crawled in to bed. Face to face they both pulled the cover up to their ears. Jack suppressed a small cough and started to turn away.

“Hey.” Joe calmly placed a hand on Jack’s cheek pushing his face down, so they were at eye contact again. He kissed Jack sensitively and slow.

Jack loved when Joe kissed him like that. It wasn’t lust, it was love. He liked the lust too, of course, but this hit deeper.

“You’re determined to go down with me, aren’t you?”

Joe smiled and moved a hand down Jack’s side over his thigh only to move up and stop just below the groin.

“Oh, most definitely.”

Jack smiled and moved a strand of hair away from Joe’s eyes before he turned around allowing himself to become the little spoon. Joe wrapped his arm around Jack’s chest and felt him breathing slightly too fast. He kissed his neck softly and made the younger guy shiver.

“Jack you’re hot.”

“Well thank you very much.” Joe could hear Jack was smiling. Then he coughed a couple of times.

“Not like that, your moron. I think you have a fever.”

“Hey, that’s not a way to talk to your sick boyfriend.” He brushed his hand lightly over Joe’s arm. “I’m good, it’s just a little warm in here. You know; far out in the woods, with you wrapped around me.”

“Even with your brother laying down the soundtrack to the best part of the trip so far?”

They laughed and again Jack ended up coughing and Joe had to slap his back to help him recover.

* * *

“If you two want to use the bathroom before sleep, it’s fee now.”

Conor pushed the half-open door and looked in the bedroom. Jack and Joe were both sound asleep, wrapped up in each other. Conor smiled and closed the door quietly. When he laid down on the surprisingly comfortable pull-out couch he couldn’t help but laugh to himself. Maybe he hadn’t been a hundred percent right, but right none the less. They certainly weren’t bickering anymore.


	2. Day two - Third wheel

“Great, you’re coughing too.”

Joe was about to open the fridge but ended up just leaning against it while covering his mouth with the other arm.

“You had to get yourself sick too. Like it wasn’t enough that Jack is under the weather.”

“Calm down will you. It’s just a little cough. We’ll be fine.” Joe took the milk out and set up for breakfast.

“Just don’t infect me. I like being able to breathe.” Conor sat down by the table and poured himself a cup of coffee. “Speaking of Jack. How is he doing?”

Joe started eating and spoke in between spoonfuls of cereal.  “He was coughing a lot all night, I think he might had a fever last night, but it seemed to be gone this morning. He’s in the bathroom.”

“A fewer huh? Guess it’s not just a cough.”

Joe didn’t dispute that. He had been coughing himself, but not a lot and he felt fine. His throat was just a little raw. The tea helped. Jack had been coughing more the day before though and overnight.

“Save some tea for me, will ya.” Jack came out of the bathroom and sat down at the table. The other two inspected him closely, it didn’t seem like he had a fever, but he was pale, and the restless night was showing under his eyes.

Conor was the first to break the silence. “How’re you feeling?”

“Okay.” Jack coughed and once again wondered if a sore throat should hurt in his lungs. He brushed it of like he’d been doing since yesterday and reached for the tea.

While the two of them ate, Jack only had tea, they decided that they should go explore the area while the weather was still calm and sunny. Then they could watch horror movies when the storm would hit in the evening.

* * *

“You sure you’re warm enough?”

Joe felt Jack’s hand shake in his, and it started to feel cold.

“I’m good.” Jack coughed and had to stop for a second to catch his breath. “You basically forced this jacket on me and you’re only wearing a jumper. Maybe I’m too hot.”

Joe smiled, and they started walking again, but as they tried to catch up with Conor, he noticed Jack stuffing his other hand deep in his pocket. Joe stopped, folded up Jack’s color and closed the jacket all the way to his chin, and Jack let him. He put both Jack’s and his own hand in the free pocket.

“C’mon, you two. See this.”

Conor had stopped on the top of a hill and Jack was wondering if he’d ever make it up there. His whole body was tired, and his head was starting to hurt. Joe noticed his hesitation and put an arm around his back, and slowly pushed him up. The view was amazing. Green and red-orange all the way to the water. They could see the bridge from here, but not the other side. Maybe on a clearer day, but the sky was dark grey in the horizon.

“We’re so coming back here when it’s warm enough to swim in that creek down there.”

Jack shivered by the thought and Joe felt it and held him tighter.

Conor didn’t get an answer and turned around to see if the others had even made it up the hill. They were there, but Jack was wheezing and looked like he would pass out any minute. “You two alright? Jack you don’t look so hot.”

“I’m…” A coughing fit hit him, so Joe struggled holding him up and Conor had to grab his brother’s other arm to keep them both from falling over.

“Don’t you dare say that you’re good. You’re not even alright.” Conor looked at Joe and they both nodded in agreement; they should go home now and make Jack rest for the rest of the day.

The walk home was longer that out, even though it was downhill. Jack stopped every other minute to catch his breath or to succumb to one coughing fit after the other.

* * *

“I’m making some tea. Did we bring honey?”

Joe pointed Conor to the small suitcase on the floor, next to the counter and shoved Jack in to the bedroom.

“Can you stand for a second? Let’s get your trousers off so you can sleep.”

Jack stood with the bed right behind him, he was pretty sure he wasn’t going to fall, but he really just wanted to sit sooner rather than later. Joe undid his belt and Jack clutched his boyfriend’s hair tight.

“This took a turn quick.”

“Shut up will you and let me help.” Joe pulled his head from Jack’s hand and pulled his trousers down. He stood back up and looked Jack in the eyes. He was swaying and using all his energy not to fall asleep right there.

“Sit down love. I’ll get your shoes.”

Jack sat on the bed and Joe started with his shoes. His knees were already shivering. “Hey, don’t lie down just yet, you can’t sleep with the jacket on.”

Jack wasn’t quite sure if he’d forgotten about the jacket or if he just didn’t care. But he was sure that his headache got worse when Joe pulled him back up.

“Do you want anything before you sleep? You should probably drink some water at least.”

Jack nodded and pushed himself over to sit against the headboard. “Just water.”

Joe pulled the comforter all the way to Jack’s chin and then opened the door to yell the message to Conor.

“I’m sorry.” Jack was only whispering. It might make him cough if he tried to speak louder.

“Sunshine. You’re sick. That’s not you’re fault. Shit happens.”

“I do feel like shit.”

Joe sat on the edge of the bed and placed a slow kiss on Jack’s forehead. “Love. You definitely have a fever now.”

Jack nodded defeated.

When Conor came in the room with the water, Jack was coughing like never before. He was hunched over heaving for air between barks. Tears was running down his face from exhaustion and with holding both arms tight around his chest, Joe had to hold him steady, but still managed to rub big circles on his back with one hand.

Conor ran to the kitchen and grabbed some paper towels and came to sit next to Joe.

“Here bro. Don’t hold back, get it out and get some air.”

Jack took the towel and nodded. He held it to his mouth and coughed harder. Soon he stopped and let Joe support him while leaning back against the headboard. He was winded, and it sounded like he was breathing through a straw.

After a few moments passed in silence he rolled up the paper towel and took the glass of water still in Conor’s hand.

“Thanks.”

“Sure thing.”

Joe took the towel from Jack and tossed it. Conor got him lying down and tucked in.

“What do we do?”

Joe stopped Conor in the door. He was worried. This was more than just a cold. Jack sounded like his airway or maybe even his lungs were the problem, and he had a fever.

“One of us should stay with him, just incase he needs help. There’s really nothing else we can do unless we want to make the drive back to the city.” Conor really didn’t want to pack up his brother in the car for four hours in this state. It could still get better with rest though. “I just whish we had a way of monitoring his fever.”

“Oh, wait. There’s a fully stocked first aid kit in the bathroom. I don’t know what fully stocked means, but I’ll check.”

With that Joe was gone and Conor took place on a chair next to Jack. Jack looked at his brother, he was so tired, he needed to sleep but the constant feeling of something sitting on his chest was keeping from it, so far.

“Do you need more water?”

Jack shook his head. “No thanks. Where’s Joe?”

Conor smiled. Joe had been out of the room for all of five seconds and his brother already missed him.

“He’s looking for a thermometer and maybe something to knock the fever down with.”

Joe came in the room and startled both of them. He placed a big blue bag on the dresser and starting unpacking in a hurry.

“Cough syrup, instant cold packs, aspirin…”

“I’ll take some of those thanks.” Jack lifted his head and reached for the water. The sudden movement made him dizzy and the cough that followed just made it worse. Conor pushed him back.

“Easy there, big guy.”

Joe threw the pill-bottle to Conor and dived into the bag again. Conor gave Jack two pills and helped him lift his head a little so he could drink.

“Here we go. Found it… Oh…” Joe paused.

“What?” Conor wrapped his little brother tight again.

“It’s a rectal thermometer.”

Conor stood up. “That’s my cue, see you later.” He ruffled Jack’s hair and went for the door.

“Conor.” Jack spoke louder and had to concentrate not to cough uncontrollably again. “No need to leave. I’m not doing that.”

“C’mon, love.” Joe kneeled down next to Jack’s head and smiled. “It’s not like you’ve never had anything up there.”

“Whoa! Brother in the room.” Conor slammed the door after him, so Jack recoiled to protect his throbbing head.

Joe laughed. He hadn’t stopped to think about the obvious third wheel in the room. “Do you want me to leave, while you do it?”

Jack looked long and hard at Joe, but there didn’t come another option, so he nodded. This was embarrassing, and he didn’t need witnesses, not even Joe.

Joe left the room and left Jack with the thermometer. He felt exposed and like a sick child and that Joe and his brother was on the other side of that door, perfectly aware of what he was doing only made it that much worse.

* * *

“Joe…” Conor was at the table, not making eye-contact. Joe could see the redness to his cheeks nonetheless. “Don’t get me wrong. No one is happier for you two than me, but please… _please!_ Contain the talk about… private stuff, till you’re, you know in private.”

Joe couldn’t help but laugh and his own cough made a small appearance while he sat down. “I’m sorry man. I didn’t think.”

“I can take the sweettalk and I have no problems with you two kissing and stuff, but for God’s sake, Joe. He’s my brother.”

“I get it. It just slipped out. I know there’s a thing as too much information even if you’re not learning anything you hadn’t already figured out.”

Joe smiled and watched Conor getting even more red-faced.

“Okay.” Conor stood up suddenly. “Change of subject. Jack didn’t want the tea. I’m guessing he’s passed the sore throat by now, but you don’t sound like you’re going to eject your lungs just yet, so you drink it, and when Jack’s done in there you take some of that cough syrup.”

Joe made a face of disgust but when Conor placed a mug with hot tea in front of him, he smiled. “Aye, aye, Captain!”

* * *

“Joe?”

Joe and Conor almost didn’t hear it. They had been quiet and trying to listen if Jack called. They had decided that they would give Jack five minutes before checking on him. It had been three minutes and Joe had almost finished his tea.

“Joe?”

This time they were certain, and Joe rushed to the bedroom door.

“Hey. You done?”

Jack hummed and relaxed his head on the pillow again. Relieved that Joe had heard him. Joe came over and sat down.

“What did it say?”

“Thirty-eight, nine. It’s not that bad. I just need sleep and to get all of this off me.” Jack sluggishly kicked the comforter to the side. He was too hot to be under there, he felt like he was suffocating.

Joe pulled over a small ottoman and sat down next to Jack. He brushed his boyfriend’s damp hair out of his eyes and let his hand linger in his thick hair.

“Just try to get some sleep. Sunshine.”

Jack nodded and closed his eyes, pushing his head slowly against Joe’s hand to get a bit more contact. Joe replied by massaging his scalp and placing kisses down his forehead, cheek bone, neck and finally his collarbone barely showing over the neckline in Jack’s sweaty t-shirt. Jack seemed to give in to sleep quickly, and after Joe placed a second pillow under his head, his coughs and wheezes almost disappeared.

Conor came in ten minutes later and was met by the sight of his sleeping little brother, on his back, wearing boxers and a damp t-shirt and the comforter only covering the lover half of his legs. Joe was sitting next to him with both elbows on the bed and his chin rested on his hands, watching Jack’s every breath.

“Joe?”

“Yeah.”

They were both whispering, and Joe still didn’t tear his gaze from Jack.

“How is he?”

Joe had no idea, except that Jack was sleeping and his fewer was high but not dangerous. He was breathing fast though, but it was steady and had been for a while.

“I don’t know. He’s sleeping. I wrote the temperature down.”

Joe nodded at the dresser and Conor took a look at the notebook on it and was satisfied that it wasn’t an emergency. He walked closer and put a hand on Joe’s shoulder.

“Joe we should cover him up. He’s shivering again.”

Joe came back from the trance of keeping an eye on the breathing. He hadn’t noticed that Jack’s legs and shoulders were slightly shaking.

“I… I didn’t…”

“Calm down Joe. He’ll be fine.” Conor pulled the cover over Jack, and Joe quickly pulled it all the way to his chin. Jack moaned and turned to his side, letting out a few light coughs in the prosses. Joe moved his hand slowly through Jack’s hair again and Jack rested and fell back to a quiet sleep.

“Did you take the cough syrup?”

Joe looked at Conor. He couldn’t believe that he thought that it would be important now. He was feeling okay, better than this morning.

“Don’t need it. I’m better.”

“Don’t make me force it in you. I’m not taking care of both of you. I didn’t come here to be a nurse, you know.”

Joe shook his head and reluctantly got up. The syrup was foul-tasting and lingered in his mouth and throat.

“Hey! Dumbass! Go get your own glass.”

Joe hadn’t even thought about that it was a bad idea to drink from Jack’s glass.

“Whoops.” He put it back on the nightstand and left for the kitchen.

When he came back Conor was on the ottoman watching Jack. He looked up when Joe came in but didn’t move. Conor had been taking care of Jack before. The younger Maynard-brother had always had a weaker immune system, and Conor had to know what to do by now, or at least have the ability to stay calm, which Joe certainly didn’t. He already felt like he was out where he couldn’t swim. He went to get a chair from the kitchen, so he at least could stay in the room, ready if they needed something.

“Joe. Come back.”

Conor was calm, but it could be not to wake Jack, Joe’s heart sped up and he returned to the room, forgetting everything about the chair.

“What?”

“Calm down.” Conor realized he’d probably scared Joe. “Nothing’s wrong. But where were you going.”

“I just went to grab a chair. So, I could sit inhere if you needed me to get something.”

Conor took a second to swallow the message. Joe was clearly taking a step back and letting Conor be the main caregiver here. Half a year ago, that would have been a perfectly reasonable thing to do, but not now.

“Joe, I’ll be the one running for stuff, you get over here. I thought you might get some rest too and lie down.”

“Oh.” Joe crawled into bed and spooned a cocoon wrapped Jack. He wrapped an arm around Jack and the cover and rested his head on the leftover space on his pillow.

Conor nodded at Joe and stood up. “Call me if you need anything. I guess I’ll watch Mother by myself.” He left the door open by a tiny crack when he left.

Joe didn’t get much rest. The sound of Jack’s breathing wasn’t loud enough that he could hear it without concentrating and the comforter between them was blocking him from seeing or feeing how he was doing. Eventually Joe got undressed and climbed under the cover with Jack. Jack shifted and moaned and ended up coughing.

“Shh. Jack. Sleep.”

Joe rubbed big lines up and down Jack’s back.

“Joe?”

“It’s me. Just get some more sleep.” Joe was sure Jack would know that no one else would lie so close to him, but he had to be half asleep still.

Jack moved backwards and pressed his entire backside against Joe. Joe felt the warmth radiating from the younger boy and wrapped his arm around him to feel his breathing and he might as well stay warm himself, he was not going to be sick too.

* * *

Two hours later Conor popped his head through the door.

“You sleeping?

Joe had been, but the heat under the comforter had gotten to a point where it was just not possible.

“No. I’m up. How was the movie.”

“Ehm. Weird. I’m making dinner if you want. I guess soup will do?”

“Yeah thanks.”

The door closed, and Joe started to unwrap himself from the comforter and his feverish boyfriend. Jack trembled as Joe moved away but relaxed as soon as the cover was over his back again.

Joe put on pants and a t-shirt. He wondered if they should make Jack eat something or get him cooled down. Jo had no idea. He should probably drink something though.

“Joe?”

Joe sat down next to the bed. “Hey love. How’re you feeling.”

Jack was not sure, none of it made sense, he felt hot and cold at the same time, but his head did seem to have benefitted from the nap.

“Better… I think.”

“You feel up for some water?”

Jack nodded and started to pull himself up. Joe got the pillows situated so he was comfortable sitting. Jack gladly accepted the glass and emptied it, too fast. He gasped for air and ended up hunched over coughing, once again held up by Joe. Joe handed him a paper towel and Jack held it for his mouth. Again, he wrapped up the mucus inside, so no one could see how disgusting it was. Joe tossed it and sat down again, he felt Jack’s forehead, and Jack pulled the comforter up, so it covered his whole body.

“You’re still really hot. Maybe we should get you cooled down a bit?”

Jack shook his head. “Don’t think so. I’m shaking every time the cover comes off. I mean, I’m hot and sweating, but it’s cold too.”

Jack knew it didn’t make sense, but he didn’t want to get out from under that comforter.

“Okay. It was only a suggestion. Conor is heating some soup, would you like some?”

Jack was hungry, he hadn’t eaten since yesterday evening, but he was too tired to even consider eating.

“I just think I should sleep some more.”

Joe helped Jack down again and tugged him in. He moved his hair from his face and let his hand brush slowly over Jack’s cheekbone and down to his jaw.

* * *

“Is he awake? I heard him coughing his lungs out again.”

“He drank some water but wanted to sleep some more. Did we miss much with the movie?”

Conor smiled and shook his head. “Maybe if I was more artsy or intellectual it would have been deep, but to me it was just a weird mess. I’m glad I saved Killing Ground for this storm.”

Joe hadn’t payed much attention to the storm building outside. The wind was starting to make noises in the wooden cabin, kinda cozy actually but a horror movie should be able to change that. Conor continued to talk about Mother. Joe was sure he’s only missed two hours of confusion. When they were done eating Conor poured some soup in a new bowl.

“You should see if Jack could eat something. It would be good for him.”

“Sure. Thanks.”

Joe took the soup to the bed room and expected to see Jack sound asleep, but he was sitting upright against the headboard with a paper towel in his hands.

“You okay?”

Joe rushed over and put the soup down on the night stand. Jack nodded and smiled.

“I just couldn’t get comfortable and then I started coughing again. Not a lot though.”

Jack could smell the soup and his stomach was reacting. He looked at the bowl and Joe picked up on the gesture and handed him the soup.

His hands were shaking a bit at first but as he ate it got better. He emptied the bowl completely.

“Thanks, babe.”

Conor knocked on the door and came in. “Hey, I’m sorry to be a mood-kill… or whatever, but it might be good if we know if your fever has changed.”

Jack looked down. Grinding his teeth, he was right back to being a patient and he didn’t want his big brother to even thinking about the thermometer. Before either him or Joe could answer, Conor left with the bowl and the empty glass.

Joe rubbed Jack’s upper arm and then picked up his hand and kissed it lightly.

“I’ll be back in five, okay?”

Jack nodded and leaned towards Joe, so their foreheads touched. Joe let go and left the room.

* * *

Five minutes later Jack was lying down on his back. Cover half off.

“What did it say?”

Joe climbed up to lie next to him.

“Thirty-eight, seven.”

It was a bit better, but still too high. Jack realized that this was going to be more than just a day, but he still hoped that he would be better in a few, so he at least could enjoy some of the vacation.

Conor came in with more water and handed Jack two more pills.

“I’ll go put on that movie, tell me if it’s too loud.”

It wasn’t too loud. In fact, they only heard it clearly for the first twenty minutes or so, then Conor must have turned down the sound. Joe and Jack smiled in amusement, and when the sound got even lover they couldn’t help but laugh. Jack coughed a few times, but he got it under control quickly. Soon the wind passing through every small crack in the house and the ruffling in the trees outside was louder than the TV.


	3. Day three - Instinct

“You’re up early.”

Conor found Jack in the kitchen with the small CRT TV on. He was sitting with both feet on the chair, knees to his chin and wrapped in a thick blanket.

“Sorry. Did I wake you?”

“No. I haven’t slept that well anyway. The storm kinda got to me after that move.” He looked outside and shook his head. “Guess we’re staying inside today. It doesn’t look like it’s going to clear up anytime soon.”

Jack coughed a few times and had to stick his hand out from the warm comfort of the blanket to support himself at the table. He shook his head and pulled his arm quickly back. “No. The weather forecast says it’s going to be like this for at least a day more. It might even snow.”

Conor sat down and looked at the screen. “Glad we didn’t decide to drive yesterday; the bridge has been closed all night, you would have gotten worse and we’d end up back here anyway. Speaking of, are you feeling better?”

Jack wasn’t. His lungs hurt and the walk to the kitchen had hurt in every joint in his body. “I’m not sure. I can’t really seem to get warm.”

“Why aren’t you in bed, then?”

“I woke up coughing really bad and didn’t want to wake up Joe.”

Joe had woken up every time Jack had coughed during the night. When he didn’t this morning Jack decided that he should try and get out of there without waking him. He must have been exhausted to not wake up from that.

Jack was shaking in the blanket and Conor couldn’t see much improvement from yesterday, but he was happy to see his brother more awake and sitting upright.

“Do you want anything to eat?”

Jack shook his head. It made him nauseous just thinking about food.

“You should probably drink something. Do you want anything other than water?”

Conor got up to find a glass, but Jack stopped him.

“Not now.”

Jack was feeling dizzy, maybe the TV hadn’t been the best idea with his headache. It was getting worse. He tried to take a deep breath to make the room stop swaying, like he was on open water, but ended up coughing. This time he didn’t have time to grab on to something and if Conor hadn’t been right next to him to hold him steady, he would have tumbled to the floor. His head was pounding with every bark and when he finally was able to stop, it took him a minute to see straight.

“Hey. Why don’t you lay down on the couch?”

Conor helped Jack to his feet and held an arm behind his back, both hands on his little brother’s upper arms. It took a second for Jack to get ready to walk. Conor had to let Jack do this in his own pace. He held him tight against his side and waited. He felt the heat radiating from his brother, he was burning up just as bad as yesterday, maybe more.

When Jack took the first step, his knees gave in and Conor tried to hold him up, but Jack’s whole body went limp and he fell to the floor.

“Jack?!”

Jack was out. Conor shook his brother, but it resulted in nothing.

“Jack!”

“Conor? What’s going on?”

The commotion had woken up Joe. He was confused by the yelling, but as soon as he saw Jack on the floor and Conor kneeling next to him, he wasn’t confused anymore.

“What happened?!”

Joe sat down on the other side of Jack. His boyfriend looked like he was only sleeping, but when Conor opened up the blanket they clearly saw that he was shivering all over. Conor reacted quick. He didn’t know what to do exactly but doing nothing wasn’t an option. He wrapped him up tight again and put a hand under his head.

“He just collapsed. The floor is cold, let’s get him to bed.”

Joe was confused. Shouldn’t they cool him down if he had a fever? He had never seen anything like this before, so he had to trust that Conor knew what he was doing. He grabbed Jack’s knees and helped Conor move him to their bed. Conor made sure Jack was covered loosely under the blanket from his shoulders to his feet.

Joe kneeled next to the bed and brushed a hand through Jack’s damp hair. His skin felt like he was on fire. “Wont he get too hot?”

Conor stood back, he needed a moment to think. He wasn’t sure. He remembered something about that shivers were bad, and that they generated more heat inside the body. Jack seemed really warm though.

“Conor. We need help. We need to call someone. Shit! We have no service!”

Joe hated himself for suggesting that they should stay in a place with no cell-service or internet.

“Calm down. There’s a land-line in the kitchen remember?” Conor turned around to go and make the call.

“I don’t have the number for a doctor, do you?”

Joe looked at Conor. Why the hell hadn’t they thought of that before leaving? Cover your basics. They had prepared for every scenario, except being sick and needing help.

“Joe. You need to relax. He’s breathing alright. If there’s not a number in the first aid kit, I’ll just call 999.” He left the room with the kit, wondering if Joe would be able to think without him being there.

Joe breathed a bit easier. Conor knew how to keep calm, and get things done. He needed to keep calm too, he was to no use if he couldn’t. However, every time he looked at Jack, unconscious, shivering and sweating, he felt like someone was squeezing his lungs.

He moved a little closer and put his other hand on Jack’s cheek. “Jack. Wake up.” Joe felt his throat tightening. “It’s Joe. I need you to wake up now.”

Jack didn’t react, and Joe decided that he should focus on the rhythm and sound of his breathing instead. Jack’s chest moved a bit too fast for Joe’s comfort, but the wheezes were almost soundless, and it was steady.

Conor came back to the room and placed a folded sheath next to Jack.

“I talked to a local doctor. As soon as he stops shivering, he should only be under this. He needs to be cooled down, but slowly.”

Conor was starring at Jack. His little brother was still out, and he felt powerless, but now they had a plan to follow. They didn’t need to know anything else and if they had doubt they could just call the number from the first aid kit again.

“If his temperature is over thirty-nine four, we should cool him down, shivers or not.” Conor had written down everything the doctor had said. He placed a note-pad on the dresser and handed Joe the thermometer.

Joe took it and looked from one brother to the other, not sure what to do. This was way out of his comfort zone.

“I’ll help you roll him on his side, but after that, you’re on your own.”

Conor mowed Jack’s far arm to his chest and started to roll his brother towards them. Joe snapped out of it and supported Jack’s head while Conor bend his legs, so he wouldn’t roll back. Jack let out a whimpering moan and both of them held their breaths to listen if he would wake up, but he was quickly still again.

“But… Conor?”

Joe wasn’t sure how to proceed or if he even should. What would Jack think when he’d find out. Joe would be so embarrassed himself.

Conor was already at the door. He’d never been more happy, that Joe and Jack were a couple than right this moment, but Joe seemed so insecure about everything.

“Well, you know how it goes.” He sent Joe a smile. “Besides, judging from the overshare yesterday, it’s not the first time you two are that close.” He had to brush it of like it was nothing for Joe’s sake, but he couldn’t believe he’d just said that. He left the room, put his back against the closed door and made himself think over the horror movie from last night just to get the even more horrible images out of his head.

* * *

Joe looked at his sleeping boyfriend. This was too much, but he had no choice, and Conor was right; at least it wasn’t like he’d never seen Jack naked before. He stood up and pulled the blanket to Jack’s front. Joe brushed the backside of his hand over Jack’s chin and kissed his temple.

“I’m just moving your boxers down, love.”

Jack hadn’t put on trousers this morning, which made it a lot easier for Joe to expose Jack’s backside, while still standing in front of him. The movement made Jack shift a bit and whimper shortly, and the tight hands were right back squeezing at Joe’s lungs. Joe put a hand on Jack’s shoulder till he was still again.

He looked at the thermometer in his hand. What the hell had this vacation become? Joe shook his head, put his other hand on Jack’s one cheek and slid the tiny piece inside.

“Mm. What?”

Joe sat down in front of Jack quick enough to see his eyelids slightly flickering.

“Sunshine. It’s only me.”

“Joe?”

Jack was still out of it, clearly confused and not really awake, but he took a deeper breath as Joe moved a hand through his hair.

“I’m just checking your temperature. Just lay still.” Jack hadn’t moved a muscle, but Joe felt like it was important that Jack knew it was okay to just relax.

“Okay.”

The last word was distant, and Jack was out again. Joe sighed with relief that Jack wasn’t too far gone, but felt the fear washing over him again as he kissed his forehead and received no reaction. Jack didn’t react to Joe taking out the thermometer and pulling op his boxers.

* * *

“Conor!”

Conor almost broke the doorframe, opening the door before the knob was turned all the way.

“What?”

Joe was looking from the thermometer to Conor, and back.

“It’s thirty-nine six.”

“Okay. Cooldown it is then.” Conor felt his heart beat faster, but he had a plan written down, and he just had to follow that, no insecurities. “Roll him to his back and get the blanket off.”

Joe followed orders and watched Conor hit some of the instant cold packs and wrap them in t-shirts.

“Here.” Joe took two from Conor. “Under his neck and on his chest.” Conor placed the other two under Jack’s knees.

Jack moaned and turned his head when Joe lifted it to get the pack under. Joe wanted to tell him to just lay still and that this would help, but he couldn’t make the words. When he placed the pack on the damp T-shirt, Jack shifted a little as if to get away, but not enough to make any real movement.

Joe stood up. He needed to get Jack out of here. They couldn’t deal with this themselves, it was too much. He started pacing the floor at the end of the bed. They had to get help somehow.

Conor sat on his knees next to the bed. He looked at Joe but decided against saying anything. Joe was scared, and truth be told Conor was getting there too, but he had to hold on to facts. Jack would be just fine if they could get the fever down. His breathing was not that bad when he was sleeping.

Jack turned his head towards Conor, and Conor immediately moved closer and spoke lightly.

“Hey. You with us?”

Joe froze.

“Mmhm… Joe?” Jack’s whisper was low enough to not be considered words, but both boys heard him clearly.

“It’s Conor. Joe is right here.”

To Conor’s relief, Jack opened his eyes a little. He looked around the room, but his boyfriend was out of his line of sight.

“Bear?”

Conor smiled and looked up at Joe. “Seriously? Tell me that he doesn’t call you Bear.”

Joe was still glued to the floor, he felt none of the relief he saw in Conor. He couldn’t help. He had no idea how to. Conor was doing everything better than he ever could. Before he noticed it himself, he was out of the room and had his car keys in his hand.

* * *

“Where the hell are you going?” Conor was confused, but he had noticed the panic building up in Joe’s eyes over the last half hour.

“I’m going to get someone. They have to let me dive over the bridge if it’s an emergency.” Joe’s heart was beating racing.

Conor grabbed Joe’s arm. “Joe. You’re going to listen to me now.” He took the keys from his friend’s hand and looked him in the eyes. “You can’t drive in this weather, if you by some miracle get to the bridge, they are not going to let you pass. Do you hear me?!”

Joe shook his arm loose from the grip and stood behind a kitchen chair, leaning on the backrest with both hands. His knuckles turned white.

“I have to do something. We can’t deal with this alone.”

Conor stepped a little closer, he knew where this was going if he didn’t got Joe to calm down soon.

“Joe. You can’t help Jack if you’re panicking. Calm down… Please.”

Joe nodded and loosened his grip a little. He knew that he was talking himself into a panic attack. He had to calm down now, so Conor didn’t have to think of him too. Jack had to be the main focus here.

Conor put a hand on Joe’s shoulder. “C’mon. He’s asking for you. I’ll call the doctor again, just to be sure.”

Joe went to the phone and picked up the card with the number on it.

“I’ll call. You go help Jack.”

Conor could go help his brother and let Joe make the call, but it wasn’t right. Joe had to be in there. Jack had asked for his boyfriend and not for his brother. He took the card from Joe and moved him by the shoulders towards the bedroom. Joe stopped and turned right outside the door.

“Conor. I can’t help.”

Conor didn’t let go. “Joe. Listen…”

“Joe?” Jack had heard them through the half open door. He sounded confused.

Joe shook his head and looked pleadingly at Jack’s brother hoping that he would fix this. ”Conor, you know what to do. I have no idea, I’ll mess everything up.”

“I get that you’re nervous, but you really can’t do anything wrong.”

“But, shouldn’t you…?”

“Hey, stop! You’ll get your ass in there _now,_ or I’ll throw you in, and lock the door!”

Neither of them had predicted that tone of voice, and they were both a little stunned. Then Joe nodded and turned around again.

He put his hand on the door and paused. Conor shook his head and pushed the door open for Joe.

“Joe. It’s not my freakin name he’s calling. Now, go and be there.”

Joe stepped in and when Conor saw him sitting down on the edge of the bed, he closed the door.

For a second, he stood still and looked into thin air. He needed to gather himself. It wasn’t like Jack got sick all the time, and never like this. It wasn’t like Jack was Conor’s responsibility, but growing up together, growing up with smaller siblings, you pick up a thing or two. It had been a normal thing for him to care for Jack and Anna when they were sick. Now he had to come to terms with Jack calling out for someone else. The best way he could help Jack right now was to give him what he needed, and he needed Joe.

* * *

“Joe?”

Jack’s eyes were closed again. Joe grabbed his hand with both of his and kissed it lightly. “It’s me. I’m sorry, love. I’m here now.”

Jack opened his eyes and sent Joe a faded smile. “Bear.”

“That’s right Sunshine. You just outed that one to your brother.”

Jack’s little attempt for a laugh got caught in a cough. Joe offered him a sip of water, which he gladly accepted. When he was still again, Joe checked that the cold packs were still where Conor had told him they should be.

“How do you feel?”

Jack took status. His joints hurt, he had trouble filling his lungs with air and his head was still pounding and felt like it was burning, but the rest of his body was cold and clammy. However, the most pronounced feeling was confusion.

“I... ehm. My head hurts and it’s kinda cold. What happened?”

Joe put the sheath over him. It must feel better to have his damp clothes and sweaty skin protected from the air.

“Here. Take these.” Joe handed Jack two aspirin and held his head up while he drank from the glass.

“Joe?” Jack stilled his breathing after laying back down. “What happened?”

“You don’t remember?”

Jack shook his head. He remembered taking about the weather and being cold, but then only lying here not being able to do anything.

“You passed out cold… well, hot, on the floor.”

“You think I looked hot?”

Joe could see that Jack was still feeling like hell. The discomfort of not being able to breathe properly and the headache showed clearly on his face, but he was joking and almost smiling. Joe couldn’t help but smile in relief.

“Always. But you shouldn’t try so hard. You’re getting out of my league.”

Jack smiled for real this time and grabbed Joe’s shirt and pulled him down to whisper in his ear. “That’ll never happen.”

Joe looked Jack in the eyes, their noses almost touching. He smiled and brushed away the hair sticking to Jack’s forehead and kissed him there. Jack closed his eyes and breathed slower.

“Don’t scare me like that again.” Joe placed a kiss on Jack’s lips before he could answer.

Jack watched in confusion as Joe stood up to look through a closet by the opposite wall.

“Joe?”

“I’m just looking for a towel. You’re still really ho… warm, and I thought it would be good to cool your forehead a bit.”

Jack rested his head back. Most of all he just wanted to sleep. Sleep with Joe’s hand in his so he knew he would be there when he woke up, but the idea of a cold towel on his forehead trumped; his skin was burning.

Joe left the room but came back quick and placed a tub with water on the bedside table. He sat on the bed and brushed a hand over the sheath covering Jack’s shoulder and upper arm.

“It’s not too cold. Conor said we should use lukewarm water. He talked to a doctor.”

Jack relished in the caring tone Joe was using. He could hear that his boyfriend was still nervous, and he was sure he’d almost panicked before. Conor hand been shouting. But, he would be there now.

The first touch on his forehead sent shivers down his spine and he wondered what Joe’s definition of lukewarm was, but already when the towel made its way down the side of his face, he understood that it was him who was hot.

Joe moved the cold towel over Jack’s forehead again and down the other side. He moved it slowly and watched the tired eyes close and the jaw relax, as he continued to wash the neck and collarbones. Jack’s breathing slowed down, and Joe kept on washing his sleeping boyfriend’s face and neck for ten more minutes, before Conor stuck his head through the door.

Joe tossed the towel in the water and took the tub with him to the door and stopped next to Conor.

“How are you two?”

“I think he’s getting better. He just fell asleep. I’ll sit with him, just going out with this first.” He passed Conor and walked out of the room.

“Let me take it.” Conor followed Joe. “Look, I’m sorry about before.”

“It’s okay.” Joe sat the tub down on the table and quickly turned around to hug Conor. “Thanks.”

Conor was confused. He’d been yelling at Joe, while he was clearly in a state of panic. That’s never okay.

“Thanks?”

Joe let go and looked at Conor. “Yeah, thanks. I needed to be sat straight. I was spiraling out of control and Jack was in there, calling for me. Imagine how much I would hate myself if I hadn’t gone back in.”

Conor stood still. What was he supposed to say? Joe hugged him again, and after he took a firm hold of Conor’s upper arm.

“We still both need your help. I’m still kinda freaking out over being trapped here.” Joe grabbed a deck of cards. “He’ll probably sleep for a while, why don’t we play a game. We’ll move the small table in, so we can still keep an eye on him.”

Conor smiled and started to clear the console table. “What are we playing?”

Joe put a firm hand on Conor’s back and laughed out loud before he even answered.

“Anything but strip-poker. Imagine Jack waking up to seeing both of us half naked at the food of the bed.”

* * *

It was evening, and Jack had been sleeping most of the day. Only waking up to get a few sips of water and go to the bathroom, which had taken almost five minutes walking to and from, supporting himself against Joe and Conor, and coughing all the way.

They had taken the cold packs away as soon as he started showing signs of shaking, but Joe had washed his face two more times when he would get too uncomfortable. He still hadn’t eaten, but as long as he was drinking, Joe and Conor wasn’t too worried about that.

Jack’s fever had clearly diminished after being cooled down, but the last hour, Joe had noticed that Jack had been more lethargic in his speech and movements, and he seemed to be getting warmer again. Conor had left the room, so Joe could convince Jack that he needed to check his temperature.

Jack wasn’t onboard. He was too tired and just wanted to be left alone in his misery.

“Just let me sleep.”

“Love, you’ve been sleeping all day. Just do this and we can both sleep after.”

Jack shook his head. He couldn’t manage to move more today. Not that he’d moved a lot, but every muscle and joint was hurting him, even when he laid still. He would definitely start coughing again if he tried getting enough air to roll over.

“I can do it, if you’re too tired to do it on your own.” Joe was sitting on the edge of the bed again. Jack looked at him, startled. No way that was happening.

“I’ve done it once already, you know.”

“What?”

“When you were passed out. We had to know.”

Jack turned red. It was actually a nice change to the greyish white he’d been wearing the last two days. Joe grabbed his hand. “C’mon, Jack. You’re using more energy arguing, and I’m not giving up. You need to do this, so we know if we should do something.”

Jack thought it over. He couldn’t stand the thought of Joe helping him when he was awake and aware. I was okay when he was out, he had been really sick, and someone had needed to do something. He was just happy Joe was there. But now he was going to do it himself. He had to. He was just so tired.

“Can you just help me lie on my side, and then leave?”

Jack was painfully aware of how pitiful he sounded, but Joe just smiled and stood up to lift his knees and turn them to his side. After he rolled over his upper body too, he put a hand on his shoulder and looked Jack in the eyes.

“Thanks love. I’ll be right back when you call.”

Joe left the room and smiled and nodded at Conor, who was cleaning after dinner. He waited till Jack called and went back in.

“I found a straw, so you don’t have to sit up that far to drink. You need more water.” Joe sat down on the bed again and put the straw to Jack’s lips before he helped him slowly to lie on his back again.

“So, what did it say?”

Jack looked down. He didn’t know what it had been when he’d passed out, but he knew that it was still too high. “Thirty-nine three.”

Joe let the message sink in. It was lower than critical, but they had to keep an eye on him during the night. It’s normal for a fever to rise in the evening and then fall during the night, right? Joe always felt worse in the afternoon when he had a fever.

Conor had made Joe take that foul-tasting cough syrup again, even though it had been hours since he’d actually coughed. Also, from the looks Conor sent him, Joe was sure that he would prefer that he’d stop kissing Jack on the lips or altogether as long as he was sick, but that wasn’t about to happen. Joe wasn’t sick, and he was sure Conor wouldn’t like to bring it up anyway.

Jack was already sleeping when Joe crawled into bed. Conor had set quite a few alarms for the night, and he would come and check on them. They hoped that it would mean that Jack wouldn’t have to wake up if everything was fine.


	4. Day four - Fear

It had been a long night for all of them. Conor had found trouble getting to sleep, as soon as he was alone and lying down, his mind wouldn’t let him relax, he must have been more worried about his brother than he thought. Joe and Jack had been awake almost all night. Jack had woken up after an hour and started coughing and the wheezing between fits was keeping Joe up.

It seemed like the sleep that they all had been longing for during the night, came early in the morning. At twelve thirty, Conor was the first to wake up, hungry and slightly confused over the daylight being so strong and the calm weather. The storm had seemed to last forever and now that it was calm he felt relaxed for the first time since they walked Jack down that hill. He decided on a big breakfast and started cooking. It wasn’t long after that Joe showed up in the kitchen. Woken up by the smell of bacon.

“Mornin.”

“Mornin. Did you two finally get some sleep?”

Joe nodded and sat down with a cup of coffee. “Yeah, he stopped coughing at around six, and his breathing got a little better. He’s still sleeping.”

Conor filled a plate by the counter and sat down, Joe did the same. “Thanks, I’m so hungry.”

“Sure, me too. How’s his fever?”

Joe spoke with his mouth full of scrambled eggs. “Still the same I think.”

“We should call the doctor again, or at least find out if the bridge is open.” Conor turned on the little TV and found the weather channel. Everything was calm, no wind and quite warm.

After they’d eaten Joe made a plate for Jack and they decided to wait till after he’d eaten to call the doctor.

* * *

“Hey.” Joe spoke quietly as he slowly walked through the door. “You awake?”

There was a small hum from the bed and Jack pulled the cover sluggishly from his upper body. Joe sat down on the ottoman next to the bed and placed the food on the nightstand.

“How do you feel?”

Jack felt like he’d been sleeping for three days straight but still wasn’t near done. His head was better, but he was still cold even though he was sweating. His hands wouldn’t stop shaking. He shook his head as a response.

“You need to eat something.” Joe attempted to move Jack’s pillow, so he could sit against the headboard, but he wasn’t going along with it. He couldn’t think about food right now, it made him sick to his stomach and even more tired.

“Jack. Can you at least talk to me?”

Jack laid on his back and turned his head away from Joe. It took some deep breaths and an excessive amount of self-control to not cough from it before he was able to speak. “I feel like shit and I just want to sleep.”

Joe understood that breakfast wasn’t happening, but Jack would only get worse if he stopped drinking too. He needed fluids.

“Okay, love. But I need you to drink something. What do you want?”

It took a long time before Jack realized that Joe was not giving up and still was waiting for an answer. He turned back and looked at the glasses of orange juice, milk and water Joe had brought in. Joe had covered his basics.

“Juice.”

Joe put a straw in the juice and held it against Jack’s dry lips. Jack didn’t drink much, and Joe was wondering once again, if this would ever end. He handed Jack the thermometer and ignored his pleading eyes.

“Do you need help?”

Jack shook his head and looked away. Joe brushed his hair away and kissed him on the forehead. He felt warm, there couldn’t be much of a change from yesterday. Then he left his boyfriend alone.

* * *

Conor had cleaned up the kitchen when Joe came back.

“I’m getting tired of being your maid, you know?”

“Maybe we should have brought one of those outfits, I think you would look good in that.”

Conor turned and looked evaluative op and down Joe. “Hmm. Maybe we should get you a sexy nurse outfit then.”

“Good one, Maynard. Good one.”

Joe smiled and placed Jack’s untouched food on the counter. Conor looked at it and then at Joe.

“Was he sleeping still?”

“No, he wasn’t hungry. I think you should call that doctor now and ask if he thinks it would be a good idea to drive.”

Conor sat the cup he was washing, on the counter and dialed the number.

Jack called, and Joe went in to check on him. The temperature was the same as last night and Joe let Conor know. He returned to the bed and held Jack’s hand, watching him fall asleep again.

Five minutes later Conor came into the room. The talk with the doctor had been somewhat disturbing.

“So?” Joe whispered, letting Conor know that Jack was sleeping.

Conor sat down by the table with the cards still on it. “We can’t leave. Dr. Martin lives right by the bridge and he says it’s still closed. Something about a tree blocking it. He’ll drive here as soon as he can get past.”

He looked at his brother lying flat on his back. It seemed like his body was fighting for every breath even when he slept.

“What then? What about the fever?” Joe felt that he was getting close to panic again, it only helped that he had to whisper, not to startle Jack.

“He said that we should try and get him to breathe better. He was coughing up mucus the day before yesterday. Has he done it since?”

Joe shook his head and looked down at the wheezing boy in front of him. “No. I can hear it and I’m sure that’s why he’s coughing, but it seems like he’s not strong enough anymore.”

“He said that steam might help. I’ll go make the bathroom hot, see of you can wake him. I don’t think we should wait.”

Joe agreed with Conor and as the older Maynard left the room he turned to Jack. This was cruel, but he knew it needed to be done, they couldn’t do anything but follow the doctor’s orders.

“Jack. Love, wake up.”

Jack didn’t react. Joe moved his hand through Jack’s damp hair. “Jack. You need to wake up.”

Jack hummed in annoyance and turned his head away.

“Hey. Love. Look at me. It’s important.” Joe turned Jack’s head, so he was facing him and brushed a light hand over his cheek. Jack opened his eyes slowly and looked at Joe.

“That’s it. Now, listen. I need you to sit up.”

Jack didn’t want to sit, he was sure he wouldn’t be able to anyway, but Joe pulled his arms slowly and got him lifted enough to wrap and arm around his back. Once he was almost vertical, Joe pushed his feet over the side of the bed and they landed heavy on the floor.

“Come. Sit up straight.” Joe was sitting on the bed right next to him holding him up in a tight grip.

“Why…” Jack ended up coughing violently and almost fell head first of the bed, but Joe held him.

Joe rubbed big circles on Jack’s back. “It’s okay. Just take your time.”

Conor came back. He’d taken off his hoodie and was now only wearing a damp t-shirt. He’d been quite successful making the bathroom into a steam-room. He hunched down in front of Jack and took his hands.

“You need to stand, we wouldn’t like to carry you again.”

Jack was out of it, still heaving extra from the coughing fit. He had no idea what was going on and it scared him. He couldn’t breathe well enough to speak and that scared him almost as much. Jack shook his head to try and make them understand that he was confused and didn’t want to stand, let alone walk.

Joe rubbed his upper arm and squeezed him tighter. “We need to get you to the bathroom. The steam will make it easier to breathe.”

Conor stood up and pulled Jack’s hands with him. Joe lifted him under his arms. Jack wasn’t helping much, still not completely sure of what was going on or that walking would be a good idea.

Slowly with Conor and Joe under each of Jack’s arms they made it to the bathroom and placed Jack on the towel, Conor had laid over the cold toilet lid. The room was hot, and the steam covered the top half of the room in a cloud. The hot shower was still going, and water was forming into drops running down the walls. Conor sat on the edge of the tub and helped Jack stay steady and not fall of the seat, he was fighting more and more for each breath and Conor and Joe shared worried looks. Joe threw his jumper on the floor and brushed his hair from his face before kneeling down to face Jack.

“You okay?”

Jack nodded, it was horrible to be there, his skin was even hotter, but somehow the moisture in the room made it not burn so bad. He was fighting for every breath but the stuff blocking his airway and making his lungs heavy was not as locked and dense as before. It loosened, and soon it became too much to breathe through and he started coughing. With one hand he accepted the paper towel Conor was giving him and held it to his mouth. Joe took his other hand and for what seemed like forever he coughed so Conor had to move closer and hold him with both arms to prevent him from falling.

Joe held the hand almost as tight as Jack did, while he watched his boyfriend gasp for air between barks and the exhaustion make tears roll down his face.

When the breaks between coughs became longer and Joe was sure that Jack could hear him talk, he looked him in the eyes.

“Love?”

Jack held eye-contact but wasn’t able to speak after his unwanted workout.

“Are you okay?”

Jack’s lungs were getting ready for take two, and Jack wanted to roll up and cry from the thought of it. He could feel it getting better for every little amount of phlegm he got up, but the fear of suffocation was hovering over him. He took a long slow breath, praying that it wouldn’t be the one which started it all over again, it wasn’t, and he was able to whisper.

“I’m scared.”

Joe and Conor quickly looked at each other and Conor instinctively moved a hand to his brother’s head and pressed his temple to his chest. Joe caressed Jack’s cheek and jaw with a light hand.

“I know Sunshine. We’re both right here. You’ll be okay.”

Jack grabbed tight on Joe’s arm and started coughing again and when it became too difficult to sit up, he put his head between his knees. Conor supported him by his shoulder and rubbed his other hand firmly up and down his little brother’s back. Joe cradled Jack’s head on both of his hands and pressed his forehead against his lover’s scalp.

Eventually the coughing turned into little subs and after a while just infrequent small hiccups for air. Joe moved closer and embraced Jack’s torso and Jack let himself fall to the floor between Joe and the toilet. They sat there for a while, wet and hot, in each other’s arms. Jack’s head was resting heavily on Joe’s shoulder and Joe could hear the improvement in his breathing. He smiled up at the concerned guy looking down at them and watched Conor’s face relax with relief.

Conor turned off the water and before it got too cold they started moving Jack to the toilet again. He was sluggishly going along with Joe pulling his wet t-shirt over his head and with them drying him and wrapping him in a big towel.

Once he was standing, held up by Conor, Joe got Jack out of his boxers, which were just as wet as anything else. They got him back in bed and with a lot of work Joe got him into a new pair, while Conor aired out the bathroom.

* * *

Joe and Conor would probably not be able to recap what had happened in the two movies they’d seen while Jack slept. They had checked on him every tenth minute or so, so when the second movie was over, and Jack was still asleep they decided on a card game in the bedroom. They were both relieved to hear improvement in Jack’s breathing, but the fever hadn’t broken, and he hadn’t eaten all day.

Around eight in the evening Conor had, after complaining extensively about being treated as a maid, started on dinner. With Joe being the only one in the room, he decided that he might as well get comfortable lying next to Jack, instead of sitting on the ottoman. He laid on his side watching his boyfriend, not wanting to wake him, he only touched his hair.

Joe could hear Conor in the kitchen, he’d put on music, but it was to low to hear what it was, soon he didn’t hear anything though. Jack was tossing his head back and forth, breathing too fast. Joe sat up. Jack’s face was folded in terror even with his eyes closed.

“No… please…”

Jack was crying and begging for something to stop that Joe couldn’t see. When Jack started scratching the sheath over his chest Joe shook him by the shoulders and tried to wake him.

“Jack! Wake up!”

Conor heard the uproar and ran quickly to see what was going on. “Joe?”

“No. Get them away!” Jack was getting frantic and Joe had trouble holding him steady.

“Conor. I can’t wake him.”

Conor rushed over and grabbed Jack’s hands as the sheath was now pulled down and he was scratching his skin.

“Joe. He’s too hot! Go get the water, cold but…”

“Not freezing. I know.” Joe took off and came back soon with the tub full of water and pulled all the towels from the cupboard, on to the bed.

“Hold his hands.”

Joe took over and Conor pulled the sheath completely of Jack.

“Please… No! Make it stop!” Jack was strong, and Joe had trouble holding his hands from his chest. He was kicking at some invisible thing and turning back and forth as far as he could.

“Help. Get it off…! Joe!”

Joe was on the verge of tears. Jack was terrified, and he could do absolutely nothing to comfort him.

“Jack. I’m here! Wake up. It’s not real.”

Conor placed a soaking wet towel over Jack’s chest and the boy jolted from the cold shock, but quickly went back to fighting and yelling pleads for something to stop. He fought Joe’s grip even more and shook his head as Conor lifted it to lay a folded towel under his neck.

“No! Please… no!”

“Conor, it’s not working!”

Conor had trouble placing the cold towels on the rest of Jack’s body when he was twisting and kicking. This was it. He was going to call 999 and demand a helicopter. He just needed to get him cooled down before leaving him and Joe alone. He couldn’t leave them like this.

He folded up to towels more. “Sorry bro.” Dripping with cold water he placed them on each side of Jack’s groin. Jack gasped loudly and tried to move away, but Conor pressed his hips down into the mattress, holding him steady.

“Joe… Please…” Jack’s pleading became more heart wrenching as he stopped screaming. “Make it stop.”

Jack was only crying now. He was still dreaming and turning his head, but his fight against Joe’s grip seized to almost noting and Joe was able to hold both of Jack’s hands in one of his. He lied down spooning his side and moved his hand slowly trough Jack’s hair and ended up massaging his forehead with light fingertips. With tears pressing at his eyes and crying in his voice Joe touched his forehead to Jack’s temple and talked quietly into his ear.

“It’s over. Sunshine, I’m right here.”

“Please. No more.”

Conor changed the towel covering Jack’s chest and Jack whined and try to turn away, but Conor held his shoulder till he was calm again.

“Shh. Jack. We’ve got you.” Joe tried hard not to start crying and looked up at Conor for help.

Conor again fought his urge to run for the phone. He sat down and took one of Jack’s hands from Joe.

“Hey, baby brother. You’re safe. It’s over.”

Jack stopped pleading for help and was now only crying softly. Joe looked at Conor. “What do we do?”

Conor shook his head. Then he placed Jack’s hand on the wet towel covering his chest. Jack grabbed on to it tight but didn’t move it.

“I’m calling the doctor again. How long can it take to chop up a damn tree? If he’s not coming, I’m calling an ambulance. If I’m going to pay for a chopper, so be it.” Conor left the room before Joe could answer.

Joe moved himself tighter to Jack’s side and kissed his cheekbone. “Love. I’m right here. Breathe baby.”

“Joe?” The word sounded like a sob covered in all the rest, but Joe was sure.

“That’s right. It’s me. Calm down now. It’s over.”

Jack’s crying turned in to small sniffles and hiccups.

“Bear?” The insecure question made Joe’s heart shatter. Jack was still dreaming, and he clearly wasn’t sure that Joe was there. Joe pushed himself up on his elbow to look at Jack’s face. His eyes were still shot tight and his lover lip were quivering. Joe kissed him slowly on the lips and felt Jack’s muscles relax a little.

“Sunshine. Open your eyes.”

Joe held his breath while waiting for Jack to respond. Jack didn’t open his eyes, but the next word was pushed out by a sigh of relief and was confirmed with a little smile.

“Bear.” Jack relaxed completely, and his head fell to the side. He was sleeping. Dreamless.

Joe crumbled in tears on to Jack’s chest and rolled to his side to rest his head on Jack’s shoulder. Crying with his arm wrapped around Jack’s chest, he didn’t hear Conor come in.

“Joe? How… how is he?”

Joe sniffled and looked at the worried older brother. “He’s sleeping.”

Conor sat down and adjusted the towel under Jack’s neck. “The bridge will be open soon, Dr. Martin is leaving now so he’s there when it does.”

Joe nodded and gasped for air a few times.

“Joe?” Conor didn’t want to make this worse by demanding stuff from Joe at this point. “Joe. Do you think you can manage to check his fever?”

Joe took a deep breath and tiredly sat up. He didn’t look Conor in the eyes while nodding and not when he handed him the thermometer either.

Conor left the room in silence and closed the door after him. He slid down, back against the wall till he was on the floor with his knees folded to his chin. The adrenaline was leaving his body and he didn’t know what to do with himself. He leaned his head back against the wall and stared blankly at someplace on the other side of the room. Silent tears started to run slowly over his face and, not moving a muscle, he let them drop to his hoodie, coloring the light gray with dark spots.


	5. Day five - Look at me

Jack’s temperature had turned out to be forty-one two and Joe had collapsed crying next to him. Conor had changed the towels a few times, but when Jack started shivering he’d removed them and asked Joe for help to remove his wet clothes too. Without saying a word Joe helped pulling the t-shirt over Jack’s head and when Conor laid a new sheath over his body, Joe pulled of his boxers too. They moved him to the dry side of the bed and Joe took his place next to his boyfriend again.

Jack was sleeping calmly for twenty-five minutes before he started showing signs of dreaming again. Joe pushed himself up and looked startled at Conor who was sitting on a chair next to the bed, holding his brother’s hand. No words were said while they watched Jack moving his head in small jerks and frowning his forehead. His breathing sped up, broken by sharp exhales that probably was words in his dream but not to anyone else.

Conor lifted Jack’s hand and held it in both of his. “Jack? Can you hear me?”

When there were no response, Joe leaned on his elbow and cupped Jack’s cheek in his hand, brushing his cheekbone slowly with his thumb. “Jack, love? Wake up. We’re right here.”

Jack stayed the same while Joe lied down on the mattress, looking at his distraught boyfriend. He kept caressing his face, fingering his hair and hoping he would answer one of his many pleas or demands for him to wake up. Conor looked in horror while nothing happened, and time moved too slowly. It was passed midnight and almost an hour since the phone call. The doctor should be here by now. What if the bridge wasn’t open yet? Conor looked at the messy pile of wet fabrics on the floor and wondered if they’d had to do it all over again.

“Joe?”

It was only a whisper, but enough to pull Conor out of his thoughts.

“I’m right here. Jack, open your eyes.”

Jack’s head turned to face Joe, still twitching around the closed eyes, as he was seeing scary things.

“Joe… what?”

“Open your eyes. Look at me.”

Jack’s face relaxed, and for a second Joe thought he’d gone back to sleep, but then his eyes slowly flickered open to a little crack. Joe drew a breath of relief and caressed his face while kissing his lips softly. The ability to breathe properly made Conor relax so he almost fell of the chair.

* * *

There was a knock on the door and when Conor left to open, Joe took one of Jack’s hands.

“The doctor is here. You’ll be okay now.”

Jack seemed to slip in and out of consciousness and his eyes were slowly closing and opening.

“Jack. Stay with me. Okay?”

Jack nodded and then closed his eyes only to open them and look at Joe again.

The doctor followed Conor into the room and sat down on the chair as Conor stepped aside. He was an elderly man, totally balled, but a big white beard more than made up for that.

“So, this is Jack?” He wasted no time and took his wrist to check his pulse. Jack moaned by the sudden touch by the probably cold fingers. “Is he awake?”

“Not really. Maybe… sometimes.” Joe truly didn’t know, it seemed like he was able to hear them, and his nightmare had stopped, but he wasn’t exactly responding.

The doctor pulled a stethoscope from his bag on the floor and listened to Jack’s chest and heart. “Can you help me get him seated so I can listen closer to his lungs?”

Conor stood next to the doctor and took Jack’s hands, and Joe lifted his head. Jack whined softly but relaxed quickly when his head landed heavy on Joe’s shoulder. The doctor was fairly quick about it, and they soon got him lying down again. Joe made sure Jack found his face again and kept trying to get eye-contact every time he would open his eyes.

“What was his temperature last time you checked?”

Conor looked at his watch. “Forty-five minutes ago, it was forty-one two.”

Joe noticed a hint of surprise in the doctor’s eyes before he nodded and looked through his bag. “You seem to have knocked it down quite a bit. I’ll give him a vitamin boost to begin with.”

He put quite a few things on the nightstand and then put on gloves. Conor sat down on the mattress next to Jack’s legs and placed a hand on his knee. Jack opened his eyes more and took a deeper breath.

“Hey, Love. You awake?”

Joe had been the apprehensive one when it came to being a couple around strangers, but now he found that he didn’t cared at all. Jack looked Joe in the eyes for a few seconds then he turned his head lethargically to the other side and saw Conor sitting next to him and then rested his eyes on the stranger in the room. Something cold was touching his shoulder and he pulled away from the sensation.

Joe moved his head back, with a light touch to the chin. “Look at me.”

Jack was confused but managed to send Joe a tiny smile. A sharp pain, shocked him and he wanted to move away, but Joe had a hand on his chest and the other on his head making sure they looked at each other. It burned and his arm stiffened grabbing on to the edge of the mattress, until Conor took his hand and he squeezed his brother’s fingers.

The pain disappeared and left him with only a slight soreness that wasn’t worse than the joint-pain that seemed to have become a part of his life by now.

“Hello. Jack. Sorry about that.” Jack looked at the stranger again. “I’m Dr. Martin. Would you allow me to put this in your ear for a few seconds?” He showed Jack an ear-thermometer and Jack nodded apprehensively. Conor could see the confusion painted all over Jack’s face and the fear in his eyes while the older man touched the side of his face, even when Conor caught Jack’s eyes and sent him what he thought was a comforting smile, it stayed in his expression.

The doctor looked at the device and hummed to himself. “It’s still high but you’re getting there. Tell me when did you last drink something?”

Jack had no idea. He wasn’t even sure what day it was. How long had he been sleeping? He looked at Conor for help.

“He had some juice this morning, right?”

Joe nodded. “Yeah, but not a lot, he hasn’t really been drinking and he hasn’t eaten for two days.”

“Okay.” The man found a small thing wrapped in plastic from his bag and placed it on the nightstand. He looked at Conor. “Would you mind bringing me the gray box from my trunk? It’s open.”

Conor nodded and left the room.

“Jack. I’m going to start you on an IV.”

Jack’s breathing spiked and he shook his head. “No…” He took a few quick breaths. “No, I don’t want it.”

Joe rubbed his hand on Jack’s chest. “Jack. Look at me.” Jack kept his eyes on the man. He was still lethargic and looked like he could pass out any minute, but he managed to pull his arm on to his stomach, away from the doctor.

“You need the fluid and the antibiotics. It will make you feel a lot better.” The mas smiled sympathetic at Jack and put on a new pair of gloves as Conor walked in with the box.

The doctor nodded at him, and Conor understood that he should open it. Inside was quite a few plastic bags with clear fluid. The doctor unwrapped the little plastic pack and Jack shook his head faster when he saw the needle.

Joe moved closer and put a hand on Jack’s chin to move his head towards him again, but Jack’s eyes were locked on the doctor’s every move.

“Jack. Look at me.”

Conor sat down again and rubbed his knee. “Jack. Listen to Joe. Look away.”

“I… I don’t.” Tears were forming in his eyes and Conor felt his own burning.

The doctor took Jack’s hand and even though they all could see the tried to fight it, he wasn’t able to build up any strength. His lower lip started quivering and Joe looked at the doctor who nodded in consensus that he would wait.

Joe tried again, this time talking louder and using more force to turn Jack’s head. “Jack. I need you to look at me.” Jack tied to turn back, away form Joe. “No, here. You look at _me_!”

Jack locked eyes with Joe and eventually he nodded. His breathing was going a hundred miles an hour and his eyes were about to overflow. Joe rubbed his thumb on his temple and squeezed hard on his hand. “That’s it. You’ve got this. It’s just overwhelming because you’re tired.”

Jack nodded again, and Joe kissed his forehead and smiled at him before he nodded at the man holding the needle.

Jack jumped and swallowed a sob when the cold alcohol touched the back of his hand. Joe pressed their foreheads together. “Shh, Sunshine. You’ve got this.” Conor’s hand was rubbing his knee and both of them wanted nothing more than to grab each other’s hands, but Jack’s was unavailable.

Tears broke from Jack’s eyes as he felt the stinging of something sharp entering his skin. Joe kept looking at his eyes, even when they closed, he was going to be there when he was ready to see again.

The older man covered the area with white tape and attached a line to the little plastic device. After pushing the antibiotics in there too, he placed Jack’s hand back on his stomach and moved out of the way and gestured that Conor could move closer. Conor scooted up a little and carefully took Jack’s hand.

Jack pulled away and startled, opened his eyes to see Joe still right there in front of him. “Calm down now, Love. It’s over.”

“It’s just me, Jack.” Conor tried for the hand again and Jack grabbed tight. Conor brushed his other hand up and down Jack’s lover arm, careful not to touch the line leading to the bag, the doctor had hung from a floor lamp.

Conor looked at the doctor. “What now?”

“I’m confident his fever has broken for good, you boys did a good job. With the medication and fluids, he should be able to fight it off, so the fever won’t come back.”

Conor nodded and looked back at Jack. He was still so tired and weak, lying there looking in the eyes of Joe and nodding slightly when Joe whispered something Conor couldn’t hear.

“I’ll stay for a couple of hours. I’ll need to change the bag and we’ll watch his temperature.”

Conor and Joe was comforted by the thought of not being left alone just yet.

“Do you want tea or coffee or something?” Conor realized they now had a guest and shifted to get ready to stand, but not letting go of Jack just yet.

The elderly man placed a firm hand on Conor’s shoulder keeping him seated. “If you don’t mind me roaming through your kitchen to make some tea, I can manage on my own. You stay.”

Conor breathed easier, he really didn’t want to leave. “Thank you.”

The man left the room and Conor reached over his brother to put a hand on Joe’s shoulder. Joe hummed in response, not moving his forehead from Jack’s.

“You good?”

“Yeah.” Conor heard a small whimper in Joe’s voice. “We’re good right?” Jack nodded.

Joe kissed Jack slow, almost not touching his lips, he smiled as Jack retaliated sluggishly, but with more determination than they had seen from him in hours.

Conor watched as Jack turned his head with closed eyes and opened them to look at him. “Hey. How’re you feeling?”

Jack closed his eyes again and took a deep breath. “Crappy.”

Conor nodded and smiled at him and saw Joe, who had pushed himself up on his elbow, smiling too. “Yeah, you look like crap.”

Jack almost made a smile.

Conor brushed a lock of hair from his brother’s forehead. “You wanna sleep?”

Jack nodded and squeezed both hands he was holding. Conor squeezed back.

“Don’t you worry, we’re never leaving you alone again.”

This time Jack smiled for real. He closed his eyes and relaxed. Moments later he was sleeping with Joe’s free hand playing with his hair and Conor’s thumb rubbing little circles on his forearm.

He woke up an hour later when the doctor came in to hang a new bag. He was startled and ready to object against everything, but he calmed down fast as the man only wanted to read his temperature. He fell asleep quickly after that.

Jack’s temperature was still high, but Dr. Martin seemed satisfied with the rate it was going down.

* * *

After the third bag of fluids was done, the doctor removed the IV, and managed to listen to Jack’s chest, without waking him or Joe.

Conor left them sleeping arm in arm and followed the doctor to the kitchen.

“He’s going to be fine right?”

The older man sat down and poured a cup of tea for both of them. “He will. High fever is scary and looks even worse, even to people who have seen it a hundred times. His lungs are responding to the medicine. He’ll be coughing for quite some time though.”

Conor took a sip of the tea. How was they going to get away from here? Was Jack able to even be in a car? It was four in the morning and Conor couldn’t think straight.

“How…? Ehm. When…?” Conor took another sip of the tea, looked up at the very patient man and tried again. “When will he be able to drive home?”

“Well, how long do you have to drive?”

“About four hours. We live in London. We only have the cabin one more night.”

The man smiled and put his mug down. “Not quite the vacation you had planned for huh?” Conor shook his head to himself and sighed. He was a thousand times more tired than when they arrived.

“I’ll tell you what. You check his temperature every two hours and call me if it stops going down before it reaches thirty-seven five, okay?” Conor made a mental note and nodded in agreement.

“If he feels up to it he can drive tomorrow. But make sure he drinks plenty of water and it would be good if he could eat just a little, later today. I’ll write down directions to my house and you stop in on the way home, so I can make sure he’s good.” The doctor finished his tea and washed his mug. “That would give me some piece of mind too.”

He padded Conor on the back as he passed him to start gathering the last of his things. As he took the thermometer, Conor stood up. “Ehm. I know you’ve done plenty, but… can we borrow that?”

The doctor looked at the thermometer in his hand and then at Conor. “Oh. I see. Sure.” He placed it on the dining table. “I’m sure you’re happy that that other guy is hopelessly in love with your friend.”

Conor looked at the man and nodded with a relived sigh. “…with my brother.”

The man laughed and closed his bag. “Okay, so _really_ happy, then.”

Conor followed the doctor out and was, one last time, reassured that it would all turn out fine.


	6. Day six – Reality

After the doctor had left, Joe and Jack had slept most of the day, only woken every two hours to check Jack’s fever, which was going slowly down. Conor had been binge watching some random series he’d already seen twice. At dinnertime Jack was almost back to a normal temperature and was comfortable sitting up in bed to eat. Not a lot but enough to make Conor and Joe feel more at ease. After eating he practically demanded Joe to go watch a movie with Conor, so they at least would have something else to do than look after him. When they put on the second movie Jack joined them on the couch and snuggled up to Joe under his blanket. They watched the movie in silence and enjoyed that none of them had anything to worry about.

* * *

The next morning, Joe and Conor was up early. Conor was packing when Joe joined him in the kitchen.

“Is Jack up yet?”

Joe poured himself a cup of coffee. “No, he’s still out. I guess his body is beat from all of this. His fever is gone though.”

“Good. I think we should head home as soon as he’s ready.”

“Too bad. I was getting used to your crappy coffee.”

“If you could tear yourself from my brother’s arms for more than two minutes, you could make your own damn coffee.” Conor yawned and sat down with Joe. He hadn’t slept well, he wasn’t worried anymore, but something had made him restless all night.

“Did you even sleep?” Joe looked investigative at the blonde in front of him, he was sure he looked more tired than last night.

Conor shook his head. “No not really, guess I just couldn’t calm down, you know?”

“Sure.” Joe had been so tired that when the threat of Jack getting worse was gone he’d basically passed out next to him. “You know he’s alright, right?”

Conor knew that, but something still kept him on edge. “I know.” His voice cracked without him being ready for a reaction like that, and he didn’t understand when his eyes were welling up.

“Conor?” Joe came over, hunched down next to Conor’s chair and put a hand on his knee. “What’s going on?”

A single tear rolled down his face. He brushed it away quickly and looked down at Joe’s face. “I… I don’t know. I’m just tired I guess.”

Joe knew this was more than lack of sleep, and the not sleeping thing had to come from somewhere too. “Conor. Can I just ask you something?”

Conor was confused, but maybe Joe had seen the light here, so he nodded, afraid that he would start crying if he spoke.

Joe put his other hand on Conor’s shoulder and took a second before asking. “How scared were you?”

Conor looked at Joe, frozen accepting that his eyes spilled one tear after the other and that his breathing got faster. He _had_ been scared. He had been more scared that he’d had time to admit to himself. He felt dizzy, even sitting on a chair. Joe noticed Conor’s eyes wandering to noting and his upper body swaying a little. He quickly pulled a chair up next to Conor and sat down, wrapping an arm around him and pulling him in to steady him.

“It’s okay, Conor. I get it.”

Conor leaned his head on Joe’s shoulder and Joe held the older Maynard in a tight embrace, rubbing his arm and letting him cry.

Conor was sobbing by now, he wasn’t in control and if he tried silencing his crying he would end up suffocating. Jack could have died, from this, he could have done the smallest thing wrong and his little brother could have _died_. Conor hadn’t noticed at first but thinking back he knew that even the doctor had sounded worried on the phone. Conor had done everything with shaking hands for four days and he hadn’t had time to notice. His crying got more frantic and he couldn’t breathe.

Joe shook Conor a little, rubbed his arm harder. Tried to make him aware that he was there, hoping that it might stop him from hyperventilating.

“Shh. You need to breathe. C’mon, man. Deep breaths.”

Conor tried taking deep breaths, he tried to stop shaking and crying, but the fear from the last week had gotten a grip on him now.

“What the…? Conor!”

Jack had heard the crying from his room and had gotten up to see what the commotion was all about. Joe waved him over and it seemed like Conor didn’t even notice that he moved to give Jack his spot next to him. Jack held his brother and Conor grabbed tight to his shoulder and buried his head in his little brother’s chest.

Jack was confused and looked at Joe for help. Joe hunched down on the other side of Conor and once again put a firm hand on his knee. “I think he only just realized how scared he’s been the last days. Jack, he was scared of loosing you, we both were.”

Jack felt his eyes burn. He’d been so far gone that he hadn’t been scared, at least not to that extent, himself. He cradled his brother’s head and whispered to him while moving his fingers slowly around in his hair.

“I’m sorry. Conor, it’s over. I’m all better now. You know that right.”

Joe and Jack wasn’t sure Conor had even heard him, but he had and eventually he nodded and took a deeper breath.

“That’s it. Breathe slowly. We’re all fine now.”

Conor eventually stilled, but Jack kept on holding him. He wasn’t going to let him go before he was ready to pull away himself. Joe stood up as things called down and placed coffee and a plate with toast on the table for Jack, before starting to load everything in the car.

When Joe was all done he sat down at the table again. Conor had sat up and was concentrating on his coffee. Jack still had his hand on Conor’s forearm, using only one hand to eat. They were both almost smiling.

“You okay?”

Conor nodded. “Yeah, sorry about that.” He looked deep into his coffee.

“Don’t be. Conor, I know.” Joe saw the confusion in Conor’s eyes when he looked up at him and slightly shook his head. Conor wasn’t sure what this was about himself, so Joe had to explain himself further. “You remember me freaking out any given chance? I don’t think I’ve cried like that… or that much, my entire life.”

Jack listened carefully but didn’t say anything. He’d really done a number on these guys.

“Conor.” Joe waited for Conor to make eye-contact. “You kept calm, you took care of both of us. I didn’t stop to think how you were doing. You were bound to react sometime, you just _acted_ first.”

Conor nodded and smiled at Joe, and Jack squeezed his arm a little tighter.

Jack was done eating and all the coffee was gone, so Joe stood up. “How about we put this place in our rearview mirror?”

The brother’s agreed and they left for the car.

Joe picked the keys from his pocket and put a hand on Conor’s shoulder. “How about you sit in the back with Jack? You should get some rest. I’ll drive.”

Jack held the door for his brother. “I can drive.”

“No!” The older boys spoke at once.

“Okay, okay.” Jack held his hand’s op in a surrendering gesture and got in the back seat with Conor, and soon they were on their way.

* * *

It was quiet in the car. Jack was leaning against Conor, who was almost sleeping, but still robbing his thumb in little circles on his brother’s shoulder.

Joe was content with the silence, but when they turned down the main road, he realized that Jack didn’t knew they were going to see the dr. Martin.

“Jack? You awake?”

“I’m awake.” Jack was enjoying the daylight. Being locked up in the cabin for days hadn’t been the vacation he’d signed up for. “What’s up?”

“We’re going to see dr. Martin. He asked that we’d drive by on the way.”

Jack vaguely remembered something about a man with a big white beard, but he’d thought that was just another nightmare.

“Dr. Martin?”

Joe looked in the mirror to see Jack’s confused look. “How much do you remember from two nights ago?”

Jack thought it over. It wasn’t much, but he hadn’t really tried to remember any of it before now. “Ehm. We… Conor and I were in the kitchen, watching the storm on TV.”

Joe suddenly had to concentrate very hard on keeping the car on the road. Conor pushed Jack up so he could look at his face. “Bro. That was three days ago.”

Jack looked down. Three days… He tried to remember more, but it was all bits and pieces. “There was something cold on my face, I heard Joe talking… The next thing that’s kinda clear is that we were in the bathroom, it was hot, and I couldn’t breathe…”

“Love. That’s still two days ago. Don’t you remember more?”

“Yeah, but…” It was all coming back to him now. Joe washing his forehead, whispering to him, the steam bath, couching and crying, the fear of suffocating… the nightmares.

“But what?” Conor was getting a bit worried about this memory loss.

Jack swallowed. “I’m not sure how much of it was real and how much was dreams.”

Conor drew a sigh of relief. He was remembering, they could deal with sorting out things for him. “So, tell us and we’ll let you know.”

Joe and Conor waited in suspense for Jack to nod and go on.

“Okay.” Jack sat up straight and looked at Joe in the mirror and then at Conor. “I’m pretty sure the cockroaches clawing into my skin was a nightmare.” He grinned, and Joe smiled back at him.

“You sure that wasn’t us?” Conor knocked him on the shoulder and laughed.

“I’m sure it wasn’t _you_. You would never touch them.” Jack laughed but then got lost in thought again. “…but someone held me down.”

Joe nodded. “Yeah, _that_ , part was us, you were clawing your skin off.”

Jack bit his lip. He’d wondered how he’d gotten those red lines across his chest. “Fair enough. It stopped though, it got really cold, like it hurt, and then they went away.”

Conor looked down. He’d hoped that Jack wouldn’t remember any of his nightmares, but that he’d had to hurt him to make him better was a lot to deal with. “That was us too. We had to cool you down. You had an extremely high fever.”

“How high?”

“We don’t know for sure, but Joe checked it when you calmed down and it was forty-one two.”

Jack gasped. No wonder he had been having nightmares and had trouble remembering. “Wait.” Jack caught Joe’s eyes in the mirror. “So, the talk about that you had… checked my temperature, wasn’t a dream?”

Joe shook his head.

“How many times?”

Joe smiled. “Countless. I have no idea.” Joe winked at his boyfriend and then added. “… but the I only did it twice in your cute little bum.”

“Joe!” Conor was not amused. He hated being in a car with those two when they were in that mood. There was nowhere to run or hide. Joe was not going to start this up.

“Sorry, man.” Keep forgetting that you’re his brother.

“Well. Try to remember for the remaining of the ride, please.”

Jack was coming to terms with the events of the previous days, he must have been far out. They had been scared for him, he didn’t remember either of the times Joe had… helped him, and the nightmares were too graphic to have been normal nightmares.

Conor was still fuming. He was sure Joe did it on purpose every time. “It’s enough that I know your disturbingly cute nicknames now. _Bear_.”

Jack looked at Joe, embarrassed that his brother knew. That one was private.

“I’ll take credit for calling you Sunshine when he was around and all the cold water and the steam, but _you_ were the one to out that one.”

Jack covered his face with his hands and tried not to laugh from the pure ridiculousness of the situation. This was too much. He wouldn’t hold it against Conor if he’d disappear for a month when they got back.

Joe drove the car onto the bridge and turned the conversation back on track. “Jack. Do you remember the doctor?”

Jack recalled the face of the man, he seemed kind, but he couldn’t shake the feeling of fear. He remembered the needle looking abnormally big and not being able to move properly.

Conor saw the hesitation in Jack and the look he saw on his face when Jack looked at that needle two nights ago, was back.

“Jack?” He placed a careful hand on his brother’s. “You were half out of it; your mind was playing tricks on you. There’s no need to be scared now.”

Jack looked at Conor smiling at him and felt a bit more at ease, and he knew that needles wasn’t a problem, but he couldn’t make the knot in his stomach go away.

Joe drove off the main road and pulled up to a little yellow house. It said Dr. Martin on the mailbox, so the place had to be right.

“I’m amazed that you even found the bridge, let alone this secluded place. Some of my direction sense must be rubbing off on you Sugg.” Conor opened the car and got out.

Joe shook his head and got ready for a speedy comeback while opening his own door. He turned around last second to check on Jack and saw him sitting motionless in his seat. “Love. You alright.”

Jack took a deep breath and nodded, but he still didn’t move. He _knew_ he wasn’t scared, but he couldn’t help how he felt.

Joe came around the car and opened Jack’s door. “C’mon, Jack. You’ll be fine.” He grabbed Jack’s hand and without any thought process he followed Joe out of the car and to the front door, where Conor was already waiting.

“You alright?”

Jack smiled and squeezed Joe’s hand. “I’m fine.”

* * *

Only seconds after the doorbell rang, a tiny middle-aged lady opened the door and invited them in. “So, you are the lads who kept my husband op all night?” She didn’t give them time to answer, but just smiled and showed them into the kitchen.

Dr. Martin showed up and smiled at his wife as she left the room. “Good to see you vertical, Jack. But please sit down all of you.” He gestured to the chairs around the table, and all four of them sat down.

“How are you feeling? I trust your fever is gone.”

Jack nodded. He couldn’t speak. Joe was rubbing his hand with his thumb under the table.

“His fever was gone this morning. He’s been eating too.”

“Good. Very good.” The man seemed satisfied and happy for them. “Jack? Would you allow me to listen to your lungs? I just want to make sure you’re still getting better.”

Jack looked at Joe for help and Joe nodded encouragingly at him, and Jack nodded at the man.

The doctor stood up and found his stethoscope in the bag by the door. “Just stay seated.” He moved to stand behind the chair and Jack grabbed his brother’s hand too. He was okay, he just needed to ground himself, to not let the thoughts from that night take over.

Joe pulled up Jack’s shirt and the doctor placed the metal piece on Jack’s back. Jack took deep breaths on the doctor’s command. He ended up coughing a few times, but Dr. Martin didn’t seem too worried about that.

“Much improvement from two nights ago.” He went to his bag again. “I would like to give you another dose of antibiotics, along with a vitamin booster. Just to help your immune system fight of the rest.”

Jack wasn’t sure what that meant but images of the huge needle, flashed before his eyes. He squeezed Joe and Conor’s hands and looked Joe in the eyes. He shook his head and whispered.

“No, Joe. I don’t want to.”

Joe grabbed Jack’s knees and turned them towards himself, Jack complied and turned so they were face to face.

“It’s better today. _You_ are better. You’re not scared of this.”

“I know but…”

The doctor came over, hiding something in his hand. “I’m sorry about this Jack, but it will be in your best interest.”

The knot in Jack’s stomach became heavier, but he knew he could do this if he just could get his body to react. “I’m okay.”

“That’s right.” Conor kneeled next to his little brother and squeezed his hand in both of his.

Joe pulled Jack in to rest his head on his shoulder as the doctor lifted up his sleeve and cleaned Jack’s upper arm.

The change in Jack’s breath when the needle went in was almost unnoticeable, but as the liquid made its way into his muscle he turned his face to the crease of Joe’s neck.

“All done. I’m sure you boys would want to leave now.”

Conor stood up and thanked the doctor, and after a few seconds Jack was able to do the same, slightly embarrassed but relived.

Outside the house, Conor took the car keys from Joe. “I’m driving. I need a distraction from you two.”

Before Joe could object, Conor was already in the driver’s seat. Jack was still holding his hand, and he didn’t want to let him go, so that might have been the best solution anyway. He turned to Jack and took his other hand as well.

“You okay?”

“Yeah… Babe I'm good, embarrassed, but good.” He shook his head and grinned. “Conor is going to mock me for years about this.”

Joe kissed Jack, and Jack retaliated and wrapped his arms around Joe’s waist. With both his hands on Jack’s face, Joe pulled slowly away and looked his boyfriend in the eyes.

“Let him try, and I’ll kick his ass.”

They both laughed as they walked to the car.

For the rest of the drive, the car was filled with a relived and happy mood. They quickly decided that they would need another vacation after this one, but Conor proclaimed that he wasn’t joining the two love-birds the first week after they got back. He was sure there was a part of this vacation they were going to make up for when they got back, and it wasn’t the scary movies.

**Author's Note:**

> As always; I love comments. :-)  
> Tell me what you think.
> 
> If you want more Buttercreams fics, try suggesting something for me here:  
> Prompts. Buttercreams and friends: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14407644


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